Greg Hutchings left for swim with daughter Eeva, then never came home

When Greg Hutchings left his mother's home on the NSW north coast with his four-year-old daughter just over a fortnight ago, he kissed his mother goodbye and said he would be back in a couple of hours.

There was no indication of the devastation that was to come.

Mr Hutchings said he was taking Eeva for a quick swim to finish off their two-week access visit together before he returned his daughter to her mother, Michelle Dorendahl, at a local park.

But instead, the pair appeared to vanish from the small coastal town of Pottsville.

It sparked a land, air and sea search of the town and surrounding areas. Airline and bus records were checked. As the days went by and no trace of the pair was found, their families hoped that father and daughter were just hiding out.

But on Tuesday those hopes were dashed when their bodies were found by a State Emergency Service volunteer under a tree, in dunes not far from the beach where they had intended to swim. Police said the bodies had been there for a considerable period of time.

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While the coroner would need to formally identify them, Detective Superintendent Stuart Wilkins said Eeva's mother and Mr Hutchings' mother, Diana Hutchings, had been contacted.

"They are significantly upset and distraught as you can imagine and our heartfelt thoughts are with them today," he said.

Mrs Hutchings said earlier that the disappearance of her son and granddaughter was a complete mystery.

There had been a custody battle with Ms Dorendahl, she said. Mr Hutchings and his family were alarmed that Eeva had been issued with a Finnish passport and he was concerned his daughter might vanish overseas.

On the last day he was seen alive, Mrs Hutchings said her son had not taken any food, drinks, warm clothes or camping gear with him and had also left behind the mobile phone on which Eeva's mother would contact him.

He had been sick in the days before his disappearance, she said, but he would usually carry a backpack of food and drink even if he was just taking Eeva down to the beach.

He said he would be back just after 1pm. But concerns were first raised when Eeva's mother turned up at Mrs Hutchings' house, asking for him.

Police did not believe the pair, who had no access to a car, could have travelled far but their search included the Blue Mountains, west of Sydney, where Mr Hutchings had previously lived.